Nine to sign on - one reject - accord

Copenhagen Climate Accord Now Accepted By Nine Nations, UN Says

Australia, Canada, France, Ghana, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Turkey, Serbia and Singapore will sign onto the Copenhagen Accord reached this December. Cuba rejected support.

"The U.S., Brazil, China, India and South Africa have yet to make formal submissions to the UN indicating they’ll sign up to the Copenhagen Accord, according to the UN e-mail. The 27-nation European Union, Ethiopia and Grenada were among those that indicated support for the deal in Copenhagen."

More on the data skeptics - hoax perpetuated

As a data geek, this makes me upset...that this is all being overplayed (in my opinion). But I guess Fox News has to have something to cover since Haiti is getting old.

U.N. Panel’s Glacier Warning Is Criticized as Exaggerated

“The Himalayan glaciers will not disappear by 2035 — that is an overstatement,” said Dr. Bodo Bookhagen, an assistant professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara who studies the effect of climate change at high altitudes. “That number somehow got incorporated into the I.P.C.C. report, and that probably shouldn’t have happened.”

Still, he added: “It is very clear that there is glacier retreat and that it has devastating impact.”

Latest news and coverage

First, can everyone stop linking Haiti with climate change? The weather has nothing to do with earthquakes and stop perpetuating hoax believers by linking the two. Come one people - its meteorology and geology - they are not normally linked (I admit, volcanic activity can effect the weather but not earth quakes). And I feel bad for Danny Glover and the misquote. Check out the Fox machine. No good deed goes unpunished - and Bill Reilly loves to lie.


Second, January 31 is the deadline for Copenhagen Accord signatures and emission target publication. Once the list of signatures is available, I will be sure to post it.

Third, more media updates to the debate:

E.U. Seeks to Regain Influence on Response to Climate Change - NYTimes.com "But when the dust settles, the 27 E.U. governments are likely to stick to their carbon-emissions reduction strategy while becoming more pragmatic about working outside the United Nations framework to achieve progress." WSJ covers what occurred this weekend. "France, Germany, the U.K. and Spain said they favor adopting a more-ambitious target to reduce emissions to 30% below 1990 levels by 2020, compared with the 20% target the EU is already committed to—if others were to match that offer." Its the question of whether the EU will lead or use their commitment as a negotiation tool. Personally, I say they should forget bringing others with them on the emissions targets unless they pay countries to do it. Note: "Poland opposed going deeper than the 20% target." How come we are not surprised?

As for the developments for extra-U.N. negotiations: I worry that LDCs will balk at anything outside the U.N. process where they have a protected equal status as industrialized countries - unless, of course, their sign on and approval of any binding agreement is contingent on obtaining money for mitigation or adaptation or technology transfer. Bribery will always work in international negotiations; its just rather disgusting.

Another interesting development: "Meanwhile, Bolivia, one of a handful of poor countries which openly opposed the deal in Copenhagen, has invited countries and non-governmental groups which want a much stronger climate deal to the World Conference of the People on Climate Change." More on the conference which is scheduled April 20-22 in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba.

I will continue blogging on this. And if folks have ideas on how to get me credentialed for Mexico City, love to hear it!

Todd Stern: Next Few Weeks Critical for Copenhagen Accord | SolveClimate.com

Posting news items related to the aftermath of COP15.

Todd Stern: Next Few Weeks Critical for Copenhagen Accord | SolveClimate.com